Djøf - a trade union that safeguards your interests

In Denmark, you generally negotiate your own salary if you are employed in the private sector. However, part of the private sector is regulated by private-sector collective agreements concerning salary levels and terms of employment. As a private-sector employee, your salary will be a gross salary including pension.

Salaries in the public sector are regulated by collective agreements, with Djøf members generally covered by the AC collective agreement (negotiated by Akademikerne – Danish Confederation of Professional Organisations). The salary is a net salary to which is added approx. 17.1-18.3% in pension.

You will typically negotiate your salary once a year. Use our salary calculator to get an idea of your market value in Denmark.

Salary benchmarking

As a member of Djøf, you have access to statistics and calculations for the average salaries of our members. This gives you a benchmark for the average salary in a specific position based on your information regarding education, seniority, job title, industry and geography. Djøf’s salary calculator is based on annual reports by members working in the private-sector and salary statistics from the public sector.

Try our calculator*

*the calculator is in danish.

Bonus

If you have an agreement on bonus, section 17a of the Danish Salaried Employees Act guarantees that upon your resignation, you are entitled to a proportional share of the payment you would have received if you had continued to work for that employer until the time of disbursement. Thus, you retain your entitlement to an already earned bonus should you leave the employer.

Pension

Your employer is not obliged to make pension payments unless previously agreed. If you are offered a pension scheme, your employer generally pays at least two-thirds of the agreed percentage rate of your salary, while you pay one-third. Djøf recommends paying 16-18% of your salary to a pension scheme.

Salaried employee status

The vast majority of Djøf members hold salaried employee positions. In Denmark, a salaried employee primarily works in the business and office sector, in a warehouse position, or provides technical or clinical assistance services. An employee must have been employed on average for more than 8 hours a week to be covered by the Salaried Employee Act.

With salaried employee status, an employee acquires certain entitlements in relation to his or her employer, such as a fixed notice period in connection with resignation, a reasoned explanation for dismissal and salary during sickness.

It is not possible to agree to deviate from the Salaried Employees Act or to deny an employee their rights as a salaried employee.

The standard work week in Denmark is 37 hours. Generally, the actual work week for Djøf members is 42 hours a week. If it is important to you that you work no more than 37 hours a week, this must be clearly stated in your contract.

Your working hours may not exceed 48 hours on average per week over a four-month period. You are entitled to 11 hours of rest within a 24-hour period, and you are entitled to one full day (24 hours) off a week.

If you are to be paid overtime or have the option of taking time off in lieu, it must be stated in your contract.

Student jobs

If you are employed for more than 8 hours a week in your student job and you are a salaried employee, you have certain special rights. For example, a period of notice depending on your seniority, a right to a reasoned explanation for your dismissal and salary during sickness.

In Denmark we have a concurrent holiday system. That means, that you earn 2.08 holdays pr. month, that you can use the following month. In a full year that gives you 25 days off.

You will be able to use your days off during the period of the 1st of September till the 31st of December of the following year. This means that you have 16 months, known as the holiday period, to use the days off you earn in a single year. The longer period gives employees a greater degree of flexibility when planning their time off.

Many people get more than the minimum of 25 days mandated by the Holiday Act. Different workplaces call this extra time off by different names: floating holidays, the sixth holiday week or something different. These extra days are not, and have never been, regulated by the Holiday Act. Any rules for how these additional days off are to be held are agreed on during collective bargaining or by individual agreement with employers.

Taking time off, that you haven't earned yet

If you’d like to take time off even though you haven’t earned enough days off, you can ask your manager if you can borrow from what you will earn for the remaining part of the holiday year and then pay those days back during the holiday year.

If you choose to do it that way, you will pay back what you owe with the 2.08 days off you earn each month.

One thing to be aware of: you can’t borrow more days than you can earn the right to during the rest of the holiday year. And, if you resign before you have paid back the days you have borrowed your employer will deduct the value of the days you owe from your final month’s pay.

As a salaried employee you’re entitled to time off with full pay when you’re ill, regardless of how long you’ve been employed or how long you’re ill.

If you can’t go to work because you’ve become ill, you need to call in on the first workday you are out.

Once you’ve told your employer that you are ill, you don’t need to provide updates about your situation. That said, people normally do give their employer an idea of when they might be back at work again, if they can.

You are not entitled to paid time off to care for an ill child unless it is stated in your contract or the company handbook, or you have some other prior agreement with your employer.

You are covered by the regulations set out in the Danish Salaried Employees Act and the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth unless otherwise agreed with your employer.

As a mother, you are entitled to four weeks leave prior to the expected date of childbirth and 14 weeks leave after the birth of your child. During this leave of absence, you are entitled to 50% of your salary.

As a father, you are entitled to two weeks leave in connection with the birth of your child. During this leave of absence, you are entitled to parental leave benefits.

Both parents are entitled to an additional 32 weeks of leave from the 15th week after childbirth. However, there is only one pool of parental leave benefits for 32 weeks which you, as the parents, must share between you.

Most members of Djøf now have an agreement that includes better benefits in connection with childbirth. Typically, both parents are given full pay over a set period of time.

If you are given notice, as a salaried employee, you are entitled to a reasoned explanation for your dismissal from your employer. If the dismissal is unfair, you have the option to make a claim for compensation. However, you must have been employed for at least one year at the time of dismissal before it is possible to claim compensation.

Whether your dismissal is deemed unfair depends on a specific assessment. Djøf can help you with this assessment.

According to the Salaried Employees Act, an employee must give one month’s notice of resignation at the end of a month.

The employer’s term of notice varies depending on how long you have been employed according to the following model, as stated in the Salaried Employees Act:

• Before the end of 5 months’ employment, the employee must be given 1 month’s notice.
• Before the end of 2 years and 9 months’ employment, the employee must be given 3 months’ notice.
• Before the end of 5 years and 8 months’ employment, the employee must be given 4 months’ notice.
• Before the end of 8 years and 7 months’ employment, the employee must be given 5 months’ notice.
• After this time, the employee must be given 6 months’ notice.

When you are appointed to a position, a probationary period is generally agreed upon (section 2(5) of the Salaried Employees Act). Your employer may give you 14 days’ notice of dismissal during the first 3 months of your employment. A probationary period clause is currently included in the majority of our members’ contracts.

If you become sick over an extended period of time, you need to be aware of section 5(2) of the Salaried Employees Act:

If you have been sick for 120 days within the past 12 months, it may have been agreed that you can be dismissed with 1 month’s notice. However, for this to apply, you must be sick at the time of the dismissal and the dismissal must take place immediately following the end of the 120 days of sickness.

A competition clause is an agreement between you and your employer that you may not seek employment or hold interests in a competing enterprise after your resignation.

A customer clause is an agreement between you and your employer that you may not have a business connection with your employer’s customers and/or other business connections after your resignation.

A clause therefore limits your mobility in the labour market. Before a clause is valid, it must meet certain legal conditions regarding maximum duration, financial compensation etc.

We encourage you to contact Djøf before accepting any clause of this nature.